Proven
by Lilac and Rose
Summary: Hermione is skeptical about Malfoy's truthfulness. But he promised to prove what he said was real. She'll just have to wait and see how Draco Malfoy plans to prove he's changed.
1. A Promise

**CHAPTER 1: A Promise**

**{Okay, everybody. Here's a new Dramione. I hope you like it.}**

Almost anyone who knew Hermione Granger would say she was sensible and level headed. She never lost her temper when it wasn't called for. She always thought situations through logically before acting.

That is why everyone in the second floor corridor was surprised when Hermione Granger blew up in Draco Malfoy's face after Transfiguation one Friday afternoon in December. He was giving the Golden Trio the usual sneering insults and had finally reached the customary comment about Hermione's bushy hair when she snapped. Snapped like she never snapped before. In Hermione's defense, her hair had stopped resembling a bush by the end of sixth year and now fell down her back in gentle curls. The insult was no longer relevant.

"You're the most FOUL, LOATHSOME, _EVIL_, excuse for a human being I have _EVER_ laid eyes on!"

Malfoy looked momentarily shocked before pasting his trademark sneer on his pointed, but undeniably handsome, face.

"What,Granger? Going to slap me again?" Only Hermione, Ron, and Harry knew he was talking about the incident in third year when Buckbeak the Hippogriff was "executed."

By this time, every single student had stopped to see what would happen, eager to see what would occur between the Gryiffindor and Slytherin.

Hermione just glared. "Can you give it a _rest,_ Malfoy?! I am sick and tired of your constant comments about me and by friends! Why do you care anyway?" Her eyes flashed.

"Why do I care, Granger? Why do I _care? _Maybe this is the only way I can get your attention!"

Malfoy looked just as surprised as Hermione did. The moment the words slipped from his mouth, his face became several shades paler than usual, if that was even possible. He abruptly turned around and hastened down the corridor leaving Hermione absolutely thunderstruck. Ron looked like he was about to vomit at any moment. Harry had a confused expression on his face like he was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

_Malfoy, liked her? How was this even possible? She was a mudblood, he said so himself. _

_"But,"_ a little annoying voice said,_ " He hasn't called you that once since before the war."_

But still, if Hermione thought about it she couldn't understand how she didn't see it before. Almost everywhere she went, he was there. He would make some comment to draw attention to himself. It's a typical childhood romance. The stuff you read about in books. Sometimes she would catch him staring at her out of the corner of her eye, his usual sneer replaced by something Hermione couldn't identify, a weird look in his grey eyes. Before now, she had always thought he was planning a new diabolical way to get to her and her friends. Now, she wasn't so sure and that was what frightened her. She absolutely _hated_ not knowing.

"Hermione! Hey, Hermione!" Harry was waving a hand in front of her face.

She blinked and came back to the present. Ron still looked like he had been bowled over by a herd of hippogriffs. He kept whispering; "Bloody hell" under his breath in various tones, as if replaying the scene over and over again in his mind like a bad infomercial that just _wouldn't end._

"What was _that _about?" Harry asked, green eyes wide. Hermione shook her curly head in disbelief.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Harry," Hermione said softly staring at the stone floor. He looked like he wanted to say more but wisely shut his mouth with a resounding snap.

"I'm going to the library…to think," she said and gave Harry a shaky smile before walking away.

"Alright, see you in the common room later." He walked up to Ron, who was still in a state of shock, and firmly gripped his elbow to lead him back to Gryffindor tower.

As soon as her feet cross threshold of the library, Hermione relaxed. _Here _was a place where things always make sense. In all her 17 years, the Hogwart's library has never failed to solve her problems yet. Hermione walked over to her favorite alcove to begin on her studies, but unfortunately it was already occupied. A blonde head reflected in the setting sun streaming from the library windows. He glanced up as she approached, a nervous expression on his normally oh-so-cool-and-collected face.

"Granger…" he began and shakily ran a hand through his hair. Somewhere between fifth and sixth year he had decided to discontinue his use of hair gel. A wise decision in Hermione's opinion. She liked it a lot better this way.

He clenched his jaw as if steeling himself for what he was about to say next. This was strange and foreign territory. Draco Malfoy was _never_ nervous. Hermione didn't know what to make of this.

"Granger…about that in the hallway"

"—Are you going to say you didn't meant any of that?" Hermione asked sharply. She put a hand on her hip and stared him down.

His grey eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.

"No, I wanted to say that…no matter what you may think, it's true…it's all true" He averted his eyes as he waited for a response. She mulled it over. _Draco Malfoy_ of all people. She was contemplating a potential relationship with _Draco Malfoy._

Hermione sighed.

"What do you want me to say, Malfoy? That I'll forget about six years of your taunting and name calling?" she asked wearily

To her surprise, he chuckled softly.

"I've really been a right git, haven't I? No, Granger, I'm not that hopeful. I'm here to say I will prove to you that what I'm saying is true, no matter what it takes. I am a Slytherin, after all. I really do like you, despite all evidence to the contrary."

"And how do you expect to do that?" she asked skeptically.

"All in good time, Granger. All in good time," he said mysteriously. With that, he winked and sauntered out of the library. Now _that_ was the Draco Malfoy she knew.

**{ So I hoped you liked it! I'm planning on just making this a few chapters long. If you enjoyed this, you might also like my other Dramione, ****_Evergreen and Rose. _****Feel free to review! ~Lilac and Rose}**


	2. Proven

CHAPTER 2: Proven

**{Ok, guys heres the end. Hope you like it!}**

And prove it he did. It seemed like every day for the next month and a half, there was news of a another chivalrous act of Malfoy. One day, he defended little Megan Midgen from a Bat-Bogey Hex while her back was turned. Another, it was heard that he took the blame for a wand malfunction instead of a frightened first year. These and many other reports showed a new side to Draco Malfoy. Could it be possible that Malfoy was becoming _responsible?_

He no longer taunted his classmates unless they absolutely deserved it and could almost always be seen studying hard for his N.E.W.T.s in a corner of the library. His blonde head bent over some musty book or other; his eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. Hermione had taken to staring at this in rapt attention. Maybe, after all this time, he was finally maturing. Hermione's deeply rooted opinion that Malfoy would and always be an arrogant toe rag was in grave danger of shattering forever. Even Harry and Ron had noticed the change and that was saying something. Malfoy never went out of his way to annoy Harry and Ron, now, whenever they had the misfortune to meet in the corridor, he would nod politely and continue on his way. The first time this happened, Harry and Ron were struck dumb. They stood opening and closing their mouths like fish for a good minute before Hermione impatiently pulled them away.

Finally a week before exams, all doubts about the possibility of Malfoy's ability to change had been dissolved.

Hermione was in the corridor just outside the library when she felt a hand suddenly clamp over her mouth as she was roughly dragged into a shadowy alcove. Hermione's eyes went wide and she tried to break out her attacker's grip. Suddenly, a wand was jabbing painfully into her neck and she stiffened.

"Don't even think about it, mudblood!" he spat

Hermione twisted her head around to see her assailant. Theodore Nott. Hermione's eyes flashed in anger. She quickly tried to think of a way, _any_ way to get out of the situation unscathed.

"Now, you're going to listen very carefully to what I'm going to- "

"Hey! Get your filthy hands off of her!"

Malfoy had appeared from around the corridor, looking livid, hand clenched tightly around his wand in anger. Nott looked around in surprise and quickly tried to make the situation look as innocent as possible. He released Hermione and placed a smirk on his face.

"Draco, how nice to—" SMACK! Nott was silenced when Malfoy's fist slammed into his face, knocking him unconscious. Once sure Nott was safely incapacitated, Malfoy hurried over to Hermione concern radiating from his eyes. Hermione was still trying to process what had just occurred, still staring at Nott crumpled on the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly and began to look her over, checking for any physical injuries.

She nodded numbly. Malfoy looked at Nott in disgust and kicked him roughly.

"What _was _that?" Hermione asked. Malfoy grimaced apologetically.

"Well, I maybe might have disowned my so called friends in favor of you. This was their way of getting back at me. "

"You _what?_" Hermione asked in disbelief. Malfoy looked her straight into brown eyes, suddenly serious.

"They, Nott in particular, didn't particularly like the fact that I wanted to become close to you, so they gave me an ultimatum. Them or you. Well, you can guess who I chose," Malfoy shrugged. The truth of his words shown in his eyes.

To say Hermione was shocked was a gross understatement. He chose _her_ over his friends he probably knew since childhood. This, more than anything, proved to Hermione that this wasn't some elaborate plot he had cooked up. She could feel the last of her doubts crumble as these words sunk in. Hermione took a step closer. Malfoy looked up from the floor to gauge her reaction and his eyes widened as he realized their closeness. Hermione closed the distance between them and kissed him soundly.

"Does this mean I've proven it to you?" he whispered

"Yes," Hermione replied and his face broke out into a dazzling grin.

EPILOGUE

"Hermione, hurry up! You're going to be late for Draco!" Ginny shrieked up the stairs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she muttered irritably under her breath while quickly grabbing her emerald green clutch and fastening on her diamond earrings, Draco had given her last Christmas. Every year she told him she didn't want anything expensive. But _every year_, he insisted on spoiled her. ("Hey, I'm a Malfoy. Why shouldn't I spoil the girl I love?" he smirked)

"Hermione!" the redhead shouted again from the Burrow's kitchen. Hermione grimaced at her piercing tone. Really, it was only a date, it's not like she's got an appointment with the Minister.

As she made it downstairs, she glared at her friend before smiling at her boyfriend in greeting. Draco was dressed impeccably in a simple button down shirt and slacks. He somehow made them look twice as expensive as they actually were. His eyes widened as Hermione approached. Ginny had insisted Hermione wear the strapless emerald green dress she had picked in Diagon Alley last weekend.

"You look beautiful, Hermione" Hermione blushed prettily at his words

"You clean up rather well yourself" He placed his trademark smirk on his face. Hermione would never tell him this ("Honestly, hIs head is already too big") but she actually adored when he did that.

He held out his arm and led her outside to Disapparate with a crack.

"Where are we, Draco?" Hermione asked as she took in the beautiful garden softly lit by fairy lights. Draco didn't reply but guided her under a willow tree to sit down in on a carved stone bench. Hermione looked at him and was surprised to see nervousness in his eyes. She hadn't seen him this agitated since that day in the library, seventh year.

"Hermione, remember that day that I promised to prove that I truly liked you?" Hermione nodded. Of course she did, that was the day he started to prove to her that he wasn't a git. He continued to prove that to her every day since then. In everything he did, she could see he really had a heart. Since that day, she had started to see who he truly was, behind the mask. Draco Malfoy wasn't conniving or evil he was everything the opposite. He was a gentleman, confident and caring, with just a touch of arrogance.

"And I have done that right?"

"Draco…we've been through this. I've forgiven you for all of that, you know that" Now Hermione was really confused. Where was he going with this? He kept running a hand through his hair, making it steadily messier. Pretty soon, it would become akin to Harry's truly unruly hair.

"Just making sure," he whispered, "Hermione, I love you. Every day I regret the time in school that I spent annoying you, when we could have been friends, maybe more"

"Draco…"

"Let me finish…Hermione, I love you and everything about you. And I hope, that you love me too. Will you become the next Mrs. Malfoy?"

Hermione felt tears prick her eyes. Here, Draco Malfoy, was asking her to marry him. He had proven his love every day. Oh, she loved him. She really did. Hermione saw a glimmer of insecurity in his eyes when she didn't answer right away.

"Yes, of course, Draco" she nodded, tears of happiness swimming in her eyes. His face lit up in one of those smiles that made Hermione's heart skip a beat. She laughed as he twirled her around in a circle before setting her back down and kissing her softly, his eyes shining with warmth. Yes, Draco Malfoy had definitely proven his love.

**{Tell me what you think. Please Review and check out my other stories _Evergreen and Rose_ and _Light in the Darkness_.}**


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